Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's Third State of the Nation Address

14th President of the PhilippinesOpening of the 3rd Regular Session of the 12th CongressDelivered on July 28, 2003 at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, Quezon City

231089Third State of the Nation AddressGloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Thank You Speaker De Venecia.

Vice President Guingona; President Ramos; Senate President Drilon; Chief Justice Davide And The Associate Justices Of The Supreme Court; Distinguished Members Of The Senate And House Of Representatives; His Excellency Archbishop Franco, And Excellencies Of The Diplomatic Corps; Members Of The Cabinet; General Abaya And The Officers Of The Armed Forces; General Ebdane And The Members Of The Police; Fellow Workers In Government; Ladies And Gentlemen.

Yesterday, Without Bloodshed, Without Damage To Property, And Within A Single Day, We Overcame An Ill-Conceived Mutiny Carried Out By Misguided Military Officers.

Such Actions Are Deplorable And Will Be Met With The Full Force Of The Law, Including Their Political Component.

Yet They Signal An Underlying Problem That We Must Address. I Am Constituting An Independent Commission To Investigate The Roots Of The Mutiny And The Provocations That Inspired It. At The Request Of Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, I Am Also Constituting An Independent Commission To Investigate The Davao Bombing.

These Will Be Matched By A Pnp Reform Commission. I Thank The National Police For Their Solid Support In Yesterday’s Crisis, And I Am Sure They Themselves Welcome A Comprehensive Reform That Will Cure The Organization Not Only Of The Failures Of The Scale Of The Al-Ghozi Escape, But Also The Daily Devils That Are The Kotong Cops.

By Now We Should Be At Peace: At Peace In The South, At Peace In The Countryside, Safe In Our Homes And Secure In Our Communities. But We Remain At War. At War Against Terrorism. At War Against Corruption. At War Against Disease. At War Against Drugs, The Greatest Menace Facing Our Country Today.

Last Five Weeks, We’ve Struck A Major Blow Against The Drug Menace. Eight Billion Pesos In Five Weeks. It Is A Pity That A Few Days Later After The Penultimate Success Against The Drug Menace, We Should Find Ourselves At War Against Destabilizers.

We Cannot Stay Divided With So Much We Need To Do Together. I Address Myself Not Only To The Joint Houses Here Assembled, But To The Nation-At-Large.

For The Practical Purposes Of Most People, Government Exists To Provide Jobs, Homes, Education, Peace, Food On Every Table. And To Do That Adequately And Dependably, Government Must Possess The Capacity To Execute Good Policy And Deliver Basic Services Through Strong And Responsive Institutions Staffed By A Competent And Dedicated Bureaucracy. In Short, Government Must Be The Arm Of A Strong Republic.

But A Strong Republic Does Not Happen Overnight; Not Even In Two Or Three Years. Nor Does It Happen Once And For All.

In This Setting, The First Virtue Of A Modern Leader Is A Constant Sense Of Correct Perspective, The Capacity To Retain Her Original Focus, And Plod On Regardless.

She Must Stick To Priorities That Were Carefully Chosen, Rather Than Dump Them At Every First Issue That Is Recklessly Raised.

I Have Stuck To My Priorites: Jobs, Food On Every Table, Homes, Education, Peace.

Many Of Our Reforms Have Yet To Bear Fruit, But In The Fullness Of Time Our Country Will Reap What Was Carefully Picked, Planted And Nurtured. And It Will Be A Harvest Of Plenty.

The Harvest Has In Fact Started.

Sa Kapayaan:

We Have Hit Hard At Terrorism And, With The Help Of Speaker Joe De Venecia, Made Advances Towards A Negotiated Peace On Two Fronts: The Milf And The Ndf.

We Will Avail Of The Good Offices Of Malaysia In The Search Of A Political Solution To The Conflict With The Milf, While Looking To The Help Of The United States In The Rehabilitation Of Conflict Areas And The Eradication Of The Roots Of War.

We — All Of Us Filipinos — Have To Decide Now, Once And For All, Whether We Want Peace Or We Want War. There Is No Way To Peace. Peace Is The Way.

I Thank Congress For Passing The Anti-Money Laundering Law, Because It Will Help Us Interdict The Money Of The Drug Lords. I Am Now Instructing The Secretary Of Budget And Management To Allocate A 100 Million Pesos For Its Implementation.

Ngunit Sa Ibang Bagay, Pro-Life Pa Rin Ako. I Will Veto Any Bill That Will Try To Smuggle In Abortion.

Tungkol Sa Edukasyon:

In 2001 I Said That Our English Literacy Gives Us A Competitive Edge In Ict. I Also Said That To Prepare The Youth To Be The Next Generation Of Knowledge Workers, We Will Upgrade Math And Science Teaching In Basic Education.

At Kagaya Ni Senate President Franklin Drilon, Samahan Niyo Akong Magtayo Ng Silid-Aralan Sa Lahat Ng Paaralang Lumalampas Sa Sandaang Mag-Aaral Bawat Silid. In That Way, We Can Once And For All Close The Perennial School Building Gap.

Our Economy Grew By 4.4 Percent Gnp Last Year And 5.6 Percent In The First Quarter Of This Year. Only China And Vietnam Did Better.

Ang Kahirapan Ay Unti-Unting Nagagapi. Self-Rated Poverty Again According To The Survey, Is At Its Lowest Percentage Of The Population In The Last 16 Years.

Foreign Investments Rose 26 Percent In The First Quarter Compared To The Same Period Last Year.

But We Need To Reduce The Risk Of Living, Not To Mention Doing Business Here. Which Is Why Yesterday’s Rogues Must Go To Jail.

We Can Reduce Business Costs By Providing Basic Infrastructure: Roads, Transport And A More Efficient And Rationalized Power Sector.

Our Road Program Is Symbolized By The Long-Awaited Expansion Of The North Expressway.

On Mass Transport, Towards The End Of This Year, We Will Complete The Loop Of The Light Railway System Of Metro Manila — From Santolan In Pasig Towards Aurora Boulevard In Cubao, And On To Quiapo To Blumentritt On To Edsa In Pasay And Back To Cubao.

To Reduce Transport Costs From Mindanao To Luzon, We Set Up The Nautical Highway, A System Where The Cargo Truck Itself Travels Straight To Its Destination, Making Inter-Island Crossings On Ferries, Rather Than Loading And Unloading At Every Port. This Has Reduced By 30 Percent The Transport Costs Of Products From Mindanao Like Copra, Rice, Corn And Vegetables.

Nagbigay Tayo Ng Koryente Sa Mahigit Tatlunlibot At Anim Na Raang Barangay. While In Metro Manila, A Consumer Using A 100 Kilowatt Hours Paid P526.48 Last May. Today, He Pays P423.20, A Drop Of Over A 100 Pesos Or 20 Percent. His Case Is One Of Almost 2 Million Households Benefitting From The Lifeline Rate Program Of The Energy Regulatory Commision. Another 119 Electric Cooperative Franchise Areas Will Also Soon Reduce Their Rates Under The Loan Condonation Program Of The Electric Power Reform Act That You, Congress Passed In 2001. That Is Why, Believe Me When I Say That From Having The Second Most Expensive Power In Asia-Pacific, We Now Rank Seventh.

But We Will Need 6,000 Megawatts More Of Power Over The Next Ten Years. That Is Why We Need To Pass The Transco Bill To Maintain A Favorable Ranking As We Take On This Added Capacity.

When We Reduce Business Costs, The Last Should Be Wages, And The First Should Be Red Tape.

Our Revenues Surpassed The Target By 21 Billion Pesos In The First Five Months Of This Year, Driven By Information Technology, And Helped By Lifestyle Checks, And 50 Indictments And Dismissals For Graft And Corruption.

Thus, We Held The Budget Deficit In Check At 22 Percent Below Ceiling.

I Thank Congress For Passing Our E-Procurement Law Because It Helps Us Hold Down Expenditures. Now, I Ask Congress To Complete The Passage Of The Bills On Excise Tax Rationalization And The National Revenue Authority.

But We Must Reduce Corruption Not Only Among Appointive But Also Among Elective Officials.

With Full Financial Support To My Government, The Registration, Counting, And Transmission Of Votes In The May 2004 Elections Will Be Completely Computerized.

Now, I Ask Congress To Institute Reforms In Campaign Finance To Level The Playing Field And Widen The Choice Of The Electorate For Worthy Candidates.

The Strength Of Our Investment Climate Also Rests In Great Part On The Realities Of The Global And Regional Environment And On How We Turn Those Realities To Our Advantage.

Our Country Has Come Much Closer To Re-Attaining Its Strategic Importance In Geopolitics As An Active And Respected Voice In International Affairs.

The Filipino Is Now Recognized As A Truly Global Worker, Both At Home And Abroad.

We Have Had The Smallest Number Of Strikes In The Last 21 Years.

Increasingly, The Philippines Is Being Recognized As An Ideal Site For Critical Operations Requiring A High-Quality, English-Educated Work Force.

Eight Million Filipinos Live And Work Abroad, In Jobs Where They Enjoy The Unbeatable Comparative Advantages Of An English Speaking Education, Advanced Skills And A Uniquely Caring Nature.

The Filipino Will Work Anywhere Because He Is Not Afraid. Like Manny Pacquiao, Given The Chance To Compete, He Will Take It And He Will Win. It Was Only Fitting That Because Of Your Work In Congress, Overseas Filipino Workers Were Given The Overseas Voting Right.

It Was Also Fitting That I Put In A New Perspective On Our Relations With The United States, Where Three Million Filipinos Live And Where I Made A Visit As Their Only State Visitor For The Year. The Benefits Of Our Engagement With The U.S. Vastly Outweigh Any Concerns About Sovereign Subordination. We Should Have The Confidence To Deal With Other Countries As Equals — However Rich, However Strong, Be They China, Japan, The Members Of The European Union Or The United States.

We Have Reached Out To Good Friends And Neighbors-Such As Prime Minister Mahathir Of Malaysia, And President Megawati Of Indonesia — With The Message That We Must Work Together Especially Where Democracy And Security Are Concerned.

Ang Panguluhan Ay Laging Nahaharap Sa Mabibigat Na Suliranin.

Terrorism, Drugs, Sars, Ofws, Mindanao, Poverty, Corruption, Investments, Destabilization — These Come To Mind As We Review The Crises And Opportunities Of The Past Year.

They Sum Up The Problems We Faced And The Extraordinary Responses That We Made, Surprising Even Ourselves And Reviving Faith In Our Future.

Barangay Vacante, Alcala, Pangasinan Got The Sars, Took The Hit, Fought On And Valiantly Overcame The Crisis.

Barangay Inug-Ug, Pagalungan, Maguindanao Politely Asked The Milf And The Military To Leave And Take Their Fight Elsewhere, Thereby Making Their Community A Sanctuary Of Peace.

A Life Of Leadership Is A Difficult One, With Few Pauses For Comfort And Relief. These Days, I Find That Rare Moment Of Joy In The Company Of My Family — Especially My Granddaughter, Mikaela.

Just As I Will Do Everything To Make Sure That The Future Will Be Kind To Mikaela And Her Generation, So Must We All Strive To Turn Our Fears Into A Resolve To Do Right Not Just By Ourselves, But By Our Children And Grandchildren.